Stumbling
by corazongitano
Summary: Annie and Troy have a moment in the blanket fort. Hints of Jeff as well. This is set after the most recent episode, 1.07! Now multi-chapter!
1. Chapter 1

**This is set after 3x07; Annie and Troy have a moment in the blanket fort. I'm definitely a multi-shipper when it comes to Community and have no regrets in doing so. I ship study group/happiness. It switches off from Annie to Troy POV randomly, hints of Jeff thrown about. I didn't mean to do that but it came out that way and it kind of pleased me in the end. I'm not sure if I should make it this a one shot or multi-chapter. Suggestions anyone?**

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><p>It was nice to be included in Troy and Abed's little world. The blanket fort and the puppet show had only fueled her excitement about her new living situation. The boys may not have understood her frustrations at first, but they had made a genuine effort to keep her around and that meant so much to her.<p>

Most of the time, she feared being kicked out of the study group. Her reliability when it came to school work, while giving her some sort of comfort in that regard, made her feel uptight. As she sat in the blanket fort with a sleeping Abed on her lap, she carefully held her debate certificate in her hands. Jeff had been the first to warn her of her robot tendencies and she had not heeded his warning. Perhaps things would be different if she had loosened up from the start, if she had taken a more carefree approach to the non-scholastic parts of her life. Would any of it have made a difference?

Anyways, it didn't really matter now, it's not like she could take DARSIT with the Inspector and the Constable and go back in time. Okay, she really needed to stop referencing that as much as she has been. In the end, all that mattered is that this was a fresh start in a safe neighborhood where she didn't feel so alone when she fell asleep at night.

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><p>"Is everything okay Annie?" Troy quietly spoke as he lifted a blanket, entering his new room. Which, by the way was the best idea that Abed had ever had. A blanket fort for a room! Take that mom! It's possible to be an adult and enjoy child-like activities. You know, like blankets forts and Trix cereal. Hell, If he wanted to pay his rent and then watch Saturday morning cartoons, he would.<p>

The scene that he found made his heart skip a beat. He had suddenly changed his mind. Asking Annie to move in with them is the best idea Abed ever had. She added a new feeling to the apartment whenever she was around. Plus, Girls smelled really nice and were usually very clean. While he might have had his reservations at first, he couldn't help but smile to himself and shoo any negative thoughts away.

"So it's been a really long day. Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"

"I was going to, but Abed and I started talking while you were showing everyone out, and he must have fallen asleep."

"Oh. Well, it's a good thing we're only inches from the bunk beds."

"Wait doesn't he have the top bunk? How are we going to get him up there?"

Laughing quietly, "We can always wake him up, Annie. He's not our baby or something."

They proceeded to wake their friend who climbed towards the top bunk, saying his goodnights as he turned his back, falling into a deep slumber once again. Today's adventures must have tired him out as well, so it wasn't surprising that he had few responses.

"Thanks for everything Troy. I really don't know how I'm going to thank you guys."

"For what? Helping you move in or giving you the room? Either way, that doesn't matter. You are our Annie and we want you here. Trust me if we didn't, you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be in that scary apartment with that handgun that you really don't need anymore"

"Yeah, I should probably get rid of that here."

"You've got us to protect you now. We're ten times better than guns."

Smiling to herself, she looked down at the debate certificate which was lying next to her.

"Do you think Jeff lied because he didn't want to help or because it's me moving in with you guys?"

"Who knows? With Jeff, it's probably a mix of several reasons that we'll never know. The guy isn't exactly an open book. Most of the time, Britta and Pierce are the first ones to call him out on anything. Why do you care either way, if you don't mind me asking?"

He knew the answer, but he didn't know why he had asked. What did he want to hear? How Annie was still head over heels for a guy who didn't give her the time of day? He wasn't denying that Jeff didn't care about her; he just cared more about himself still. Jeff's one of his best friends and all, but she deserved better. She deserved to at least be pinning after someone who reciprocated those feelings.

Annie started to speak quickly, rambling on about how she didn't care what Jeff Winger did and didn't do. He obviously didn't care enough to help her move into the apartment, and how she was better off focusing on her remaining years at Greendale, and preparing herself for graduate school. Her hands were starting to show her anxiety as she messed with a portions of her jeans.

Putting his finger towards her lips, he quieted her down, pointing at the top bunk.

Annie was suddenly feeling very self-aware and awkwardly shifted on the floor. She hadn't meant to start to ramble on about Jeff, but she wasn't exactly over him yet. She wasn't dense, of course. Her feeling had slowly started to wane though, but she was still extremely attracted to the guy. He had a nice body and no one could argue that. But she found herself want to keep these thoughts away from Troy and Abed. If she said everything that was on her mind, they would humor her, there's no doubt about that. But she didn't want that… and she didn't exactly know why.

"Oh! I forgot this is your room! I should totally give you your privacy."

"It's fine. It's the weekend, so it's not like we've got class or something."

"Have you started the study guide for the test in bio yet?"

" Wait, we're taking bio? What happened to Anthropology?"

"Troy."

"Annie."

"Troy!"

"I know I know! Calm down, I'm just kidding. We'll do it first thing tomorrow after pancake Sunday."

"Ah! Pancakes! I seriously already love it here. Britta said something about a honeymoon period and I'll admit, it had me extremely worried."

"Yeah, at first I was as well, even when I made the decision to move in with Abed this semester. But we can do the same thing Abed and I did. We can promise to always be honest with each other, no matter what. If something starts to annoy us, we can say it and not keep it bottled up. Like I told you before, I like all your quirks. I don't ever want to hate either you or Abed."

He brushed loose hairs away from her face, and she turned bright red immediately. She looked pretty when she smiled and he would make it one of his goals to get her to do that more often. She didn't have to change her "uptight" ways completely, she just had to learn to not take herself so seriously. He had saved Princess Annie from the Bad Neighborhood Forest, but could he save her from herself?

She started to rise from her seat, aware of how late it was getting. Her pulse was racing from the small physical contact that had just occurred and it had thrown her off. Little Annie Adderall would have had a stroke if she were to have found that she would one day be living with Troy 'T-bone' Barnes. That they would one day be sitting alone in his room, and he would be treating her with the utmost gentleness and respect, while offering her pancakes.

"I think I'll get to bed now so I can get up early to prep for pancakes in the morning."

Troy rose from the floor, standing in front of her, he grabbed Annie's hands.

"No. You sleep in and we'll start on the pancakes whenever we all wake up. There will be no prepping or pre-prepping or pre-pre-prepping in this apartment tomorrow morning."

"I wasn't going to pre-pre-prep… I just want to set everything up…"

"Nope! I'm about to not let you anywhere near the kitchen if you keep going."

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><p>Laughing to herself, she attempted to step around Troy when she suddenly tripped on that debate certificate she had left on the ground.<p>

As he quickly caught her in his arms, he found her eyes moving slowly from his chest toward his own, nervous as ever. His heart skipped a beat, and there was only one thing he wanted to do. He had always seen this in the movies, and here was his chance with some he genuinely liked.

He lifted her chin and kissed her.

Troy Barnes had actually kissed her. She wasn't dreaming and she wasn't making it up to impress anyone at her high school. He was actually locking lips with one of her best friends and she couldn't stop herself. Her legs went weak as he held her tightly and sped up passionately. If she had learned anything today, is that the boy could kiss.

She smelled like lavender and a certain tea that his mom used to make it when he was little and he was sick. Chamomile? It didn't matter; he didn't want to stop kissing her. But she started to pull away. Why was she pulling away?

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><p>Bright red and covering her mouth, she lifted the sheet of their blanket fort and ran towards her room. What had they done? She had only just moved in and now she had messed everything up. How could she look into his eyes tomorrow morning? As she quickly closed the door behind her, she touched her lips. This kiss couldn't have meant anything. It was just a moment between her and Troy. A release of endorphins and actions dictated by a setting, an atmosphere that they had accidently created.<p>

As she prepared for bed, she glanced at her cell phone.

**_Two New Text Messages_**

She scrolled to the first one, from Jeff.

**_I'm sorry I tried to ditch you today. You know I didn't mean anything by it, I'm just… not the most reliable person right now… Not to mention, I wasn't exactly for this little arrangement when you guys revealed it to us last week. I hope you didn't take it personally or something, I don't want to give you the wrong impression. It wasn't jealously; I just worry about their influence over you. Dinner tomorrow? I'll take you anywhere you want to make it up to you. _**

Their influence over her? She rolled her eyes, closing out of the text. She would decide what to say to him tomorrow afternoon over pancakes and Inspector Spacetime. After all, she was sleeping in.

The second one was from Troy.

**_Do you want to talk about what just happened tomorrow morning? Should we just pretend like nothing happened? I'm sorry if I freaked you out, I just couldn't help myself for some reason. Promise me you won't move out because of it! Abed would be pissed if he found out. _**

It's amazing how these boys could make her smile so suddenly.

**_It's okay, Troy. I'm not moving out, I promise. Give me some time and we'll talk about it soon. Today has been extremely overwhelming and I don't want to confuse anyone. Not to mention, it's late. _**

She threw her cell phone on her bed and continued to brush her hair. Ten seconds later,

"VRRMMMMM"

_Good. I'll be waiting for that conversation, Edison. _

She quickly typed out,

**_Goodnight, Woodsman Troy._**

"VRMMMMMM"

**_Goodnight Princess Annie. _**


	2. Chapter 2

**Woo! So I was inspired and managed to finally get this second chapter done! I'm going in a slightly different direction, and honestly I've got nothing planned too deeply so things are probably going to be changing a lot. I've decided that I'm going to make this multi-chapter (perhaps more than 10 or so? who knows.) Anyways, slight traces of smut, although I'm really bad at writing it. Heavy Jeff x Annie in this chapter for all the Troy and Annie shippers! Like I said, I'm guilty of wanting one giant Community polygamous marriage including myself of course.**

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><p>She softly traced the outline of her water glass. Her thoughts were obviously elsewhere and it was blatantly obvious to him. As she casually glanced up from her plate of pasta primavera to gauge his facial expressions, he picked up his wine glass, and raised his eyebrow at her. A year ago, Annie would have killed for a late night dinner invitation from him, but people change. People get tired of being pushed to the side and they make an effort to move on. They kiss their roommates on separate occasions and keep it a secret from everyone else. It might not be apparently to everyone else, but she had changed. But her thoughts were elsewhere and she couldn't control that.<p>

"Do you want me to take you home?" Jeff stated as he took a small sip from his wine glass.

"No, it's not that. I just have a lot of mind right now. I don't mean to be so distant."

He gently put the glass back on the table and stared straight at her. He couldn't tell if she was upset from yesterday, or if something else had occurred and she wasn't speaking up. He could always turn up the charm and get it out of her , but that wasn't exactly fair. It's a good thing that Jeff's path doesn't always lie with what's fair.

"You can tell me what's going on, you know. I do listen, even if it doesn't seem like I do."

"Jeff, I would just rather not talk about it okay? Don't take it personally. "

He should take it personally. if she was sitting across the table from Vaughn or Rich, she would have spilled 20 minutes ago. She had learned a while back that she couldn't reveal so much to Jeff without getting pushed away.

"_You're being too relationship-y right now, Annie."_

or the ever popular

"_Take it down a notch, Annie. You're getting all purple pen on us again."_

Oh, you can't forget the

"_Annie, I'm going to be honest, I didn't hear a word you just said." _

She had always told herself that he didn't mean to. It wasn't a personal attack of some sort. She was just rather intense for Jeff and it caused him to close off.

"Annie, are you listening to me? Annie?"

She was so distant tonight that she hadn't heard a word. He had stopped himself mid-sentence to glance her way and find that she was staring off in a different direction. Sighing, he gestured towards the waiter, who nodding and went for the check.

Yeah, he had messed up big time.

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><p>Carrying her leftovers in a plastic box, he had wrapped his coat around her. The cold Colorado wind was starting to set in again and Jeff welcomed it. Winter was his favorite season and it always brought some of the best bonding experiences with his study group. Not to mention, Christmas had been his favorite holiday as a child. The presents he received, and the eggnog his mom made every year all reminded him that regardless of difficult it may be for him as of late, he could still count on some things.<p>

He could always count on his study group.

He could always count on Britta messing something up, but being genuine about most everything.

He could always count on Pierce saying something inappropriate, but lighting the mood.

He could always count on Shirley forcing baked goods down his throat, but nurturing everyone.

He could always count on Abed being too observant for his own good, but knowing when to keep it to himself.

He could always count on Troy crying too easily, but being the strength that the study group needed.

But regardless of anything else, he could always count on Annie.

He could count on her smile, her constant organizational skills, her morality getting the best of his, her doe eyes that he still could turn away from, her obsession with romantic comedies and grades, and her personality quirks that always surprised him (the love of gore? That had been a curve ball he hadn't expected).

Whether this was good thing or a bad thing, he found comfort in the fact that she was there.

_His Annie. _

A sentiment that she would probably never know.

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><p>As his hand went up her skirt, she found herself wondering how they had gotten into this compromising position. She only had a couple sips of wine, so it's unlikely that this is the result of lowered inhibitions. She went through the rest of the evening in her head as Jeff pushed her up against the door of his bedroom and started nimbly unbuttoning her blouse. Grabbing her leg, he pushes his hand towards the inside of her bra, cupping her breast ferociously, continuing to place kisses down her neck chaotically. She wanted to scream in pleasure and happiness, but no sounds came out of her mouth. She needed to just let go of everything right now. This was the perfect opportunity to stop being uptight and just give into two years of casual looks and unresolved actions. She wanted this and so did he. He was making the move and all she wanted to do was stop thinking and let go.<p>

If this was a race, it was obvious Jeff was running a marathon but in a very desperate manner. She was taking in every movement and moan that came out of his mouth. She would need this if she was about to what her brain was shouting at her.

"Jeff, wait. Are you sure you want this? You haven't exactly been in the best place lately."

He quickly stopped and passionately looked into her eyes. Everything about this called out to him.

"I want this right now. I want you. I don't want to stop myself anymore."

"Please reconsider, I'm not going to finally do this under these conditions."

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><p>He started going to a therapist after he axed the study room table. Susan (his therapist) was everything he thought she would be. He meant this in the best possible way, weeks later. An average looking brunette with glasses and short bob hair cut, who quickly saw through his act and became his own personal confessional. He could see why someone would want to confess all their sins to a priest. The experience was incredibly refreshing. She simply nodded, jotted casually in her notebook and asked him questions every once in a while. At first, she had told him that because of years of issues that he had not considered or dealt with, he would have to work very hard if he ever want to be in a healthy place in life. She had not sugarcoated it or lied to him. She was incredibly direct in her approach with him. But this probably meant dealing with the loss of his father at some point, something that pained him till this day. Issues that he had chosen to ignore so as to keep the remnants sanity left in his household as a child.<p>

That same night he found himself drunk in Britta's apartment, being held as he genuinely cried himself to sleep. Britta had woke him up the next morning with the smell of cheese sandwiches and coffee. She promised to never reveal what had occurred didn't even ask for an explanation.

As he sat on his couch with the young brunette, he finally explained what was going on to someone other than his therapist.

Annie simply nodded, sweetly placing her hands on his and rubbing the back of his head as he quietly emptied his soul.

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><p>She hadn't planned on staying over Jeff's apartment, but it would have been cruel to leave him in the condition that he was in.<p>

As he searched through his cabinet for an extra tooth brush, she looked through her purse for her cell phone.

**_Hey, I'm staying over at Jeff's tonight. He really needs someone with him. I can't say too much though. _**

**_Hm. Okay, I'll let Troy know. He's been really worried for some reason. Is everything alright with you? _**

**_Yeah, everything's fine with me. Thanks Abed. _**

**_It's not a problem. You're our roommate, Annie. We're kind of protective over you now. _**

She hadn't gotten the last message till 6am. She had waken up early so that she could have enough time to get home and get ready for class. After giving Abed a quick phone call, Troy was on his way to Jeff's apartment. She carefully placed a note on the dresser next to Jeff's bedside and kissed him goodbye. They'd have to deal with their feelings eventually, but it wouldn't be anytime soon. She wouldn't be greedy with her feelings, and demand an explanation from Jeff. He obviously couldn't give them to her now and for the first time, she understand that.

As Troy drove home with Annie in silence, all he could think of was how stupid he had been to get in the middle of whatever was going on with Jeff and Annie. The two of them had this weird dance that crushed anyone else who got in the way. Britta could attest to that. He would simply repress any feelings that had occurred with the hopes that their friendship would just bounce back. It just had to, he just had to.

Annie just sat in the passenger's seat, tired and conflicted, blocking out any deep thought.

Boy, was this a great way to start a week.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! I'm sorry I've taken so long to update, but I started on a couple other stories that started to distract me from this one! I think I'll be attempting to update this one more often now seeing as I'm on the last couple chapters of everything else. I think I'm going to end up making this a future-fic in either the next chapters or two from now. Who knows? I might not! But personally, I've always been curious about what the dynamics of the study group would be like years after their time spent at GCC. Anyways, thank you for all your lovely comments and enjoy**!

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><p>He had started to notice the little things above anything else.<p>

How wide her eyes opened when something interested her.

The scent of her shampoo that lingered in the hall whenever she finished showering.

How nurturing and affectionate she really was towards them.

Troy had managed to push aside any jealousy that he felt about Jeff and Annie, but he wasn't able to ignore any of the lingering feelings that she had planted in him. Living with her wasn't making it any easier either. Recently, they had started studying for biology mid-terms together and while he knew better,

He just couldn't stop himself.

He couldn't avoid contact with her unless absolutely necessary.

He couldn't help but comfort her whenever she got into a fight with Jeff.

He also couldn't stop himself from finding any excuse to make her smile.

It was obvious that Abed had started to notice some of these feelings and while his best friend was more of a detailed observer than a problem solver, he had spoken up and made his observations clear.

"You need to be careful. I don't think either you or Jeff should be making things difficult for her. She's recently started applying for graduate schools in New York and I don't think you want to be one of the reasons she doesn't make it out of here. Either that, or she'll choose Jeff and hurt you."

Those words echoed in his head and made being near her impossible.

They had always known that Annie was hell-bent on leaving Colorado.

If anything, her and Abed would be the only ones that ever did.

But how do you reconcile your feelings for someone that you can't avoid spending time with?

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><p>"Is everything okay Troy? You don't seem to be getting much studying done."<p>

"Yeah, I've just got a lot on mind tonight. The words on the page seems to blurring together."

She placed her purple pen down and smiled at her roommate, comfortingly.

"Oh, I remember that feeling. I used to get that a lot during high school, actually. With the pressure of getting to an top ivy-league school over my head and dealing my crush on you and my break-up, Adderall was a welcomed relief from all of that. Well… for a bit, 'til that glass plate incident."

"Wait, Annie. Did I cause you to start taking that stuff? 'Cause if for one second I ever made you feel that bad, I don't think I could be able to live with myself."

"No no no! Don't get the wrong idea. The fact that I got addicted to Adderall was not your fault at all. You didn't even know that I existed! How could you even think that I blamed you even the slightest?"

He casually glanced over to her hand that had now found his way onto his.

"It was more so the stress of everything finally getting to me and I needed a quick way out."

She looked into his eyes reassuringly, searching for any signs of relief so as to ease both of their elevated nerves. Could she blame their nerves or perhaps was it the signs of something else igniting slowly but surely?

Pulling her hand away and tossing any of these thoughts, she grabbed her pen and continued forth,

"Well, we should get back to studying. This test is making really nervous all of sudden."

Disappointingly, Troy nodded as he attempted to place his focus back on his school work, unaware that every so often, Annie continued to glance his way.

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><p>"Abed?"<p>

"Yeah, Troy?

"What the hell am I going to do?"

Covering his face with his hands, he grunted fairly loudly. He didn't need to say anything because he was sure that Abed already knew what was bound to happen.

"I really don't know. She's not going to be moving out though, that's for sure. I actually like having her around."

"That's not even on the table for discussion. I just need to stop feeling anything before it starts. I don't want to mess this up for us and could you imagine if Jeff finds out? He'd kill me and I'd like to live 'til graduation."

Abed stared at the roof of their blanket fort room and chose his words wisely. Troy didn't respond well to preachiness, so he would avoid that tone in anyway. But he also didn't want to come off as being fortune-cookieish, so he couldn't be too forth telling on what could actually occur if Troy's feelings grew.

"Interesting. This is very much like season 3 of Dawson's Creek. Pacey felt guilty for liking Joey as much as he did because of her history with Dawson. He attempted to hide this for the sake of his friendship with Dawson, but eventually gave in and what he thought was going to happen actually did."

"That isn't really comforting, Abed."

"I was going to say that the positive was that he eventually did get the girl. Even the writers saw it and at the end of the series, she ended up with Pacey."

"You've been watching too much of this show."

"You can blame your Joey Potter for making me marathon it with her."


End file.
